John Jackson
I did some sculpting in Junior High. I remember a giant swan done in chicken-wire and Plaster of Paris. Weighed more than a real swan. I also carved a piece of soapstone.
But I really started in college. Took four semesters of Sculpture, trying to avoid my physics major. The professor tried to interest me in her medium, steel, but I was afraid of the torch.
Colby had a stone carving station that no other student was using. That was the real start. Three stone pieces survive.
After college… I thought about carving for years. One day I was with Ellen Todd shopping for art supplies. As usual I looked to see what they had for stone carving, and saw a sign for a one day stone carving class led by Scott Cahaly https://www.cahaly.net/. I found that I could still enjoy whacking at a rock with a chisel. I started ‘Wing’, which is now with my Mother in Davis CA.
Stone carving is a good foil to my career. I spent 30 years as a metrologist, measuring the work of others (Quality Control in a medical device factory). Less precision, and more making. Now that I am retired, I look forward to more carving.
I usually start with an end goal, but stone has it’s own mind about what it wants to be. The pleasure is in finding out where the ending surfaces are.
My other hobby is carving the English language writing political limericks. See my blog at https://limericksofprotest.com/wp/
